Blowback

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–The economic boom of the Reagan era was still going strong into the George H. W. Bush years, but toward the end of his term we finally slid into a recession (I wonder whether breaking his “no new taxes” pledge had anything to do with that?). The recession’s recovery was already strong by the time Clinton took office (Bush’s last quarter showed over 4% GDP growth). So Clinton inherited a very good economy.

–Clinton went too radical too quickly (trying to take over the health care industry), and the American people spanked him by voting for the 1st Republican Congress in decades during the mid-term elections. This conservative legislature prevented Clinton from enacting any more significant economic policies except for NAFTA, which never would have made it through a Democrat Congress. NAFTA was great for our economy.

–This Republican Congress forced some conservative economic policy on President Clinton, most notably welfare reform. Bill vetoed it twice, but was subsequently pressured to sign the popular measure during an election year. Hundreds of thousands of people who had turned the welfare safety net into a hammock were forced to find jobs. They became taxpayers, and their new salaries enabled them to spend more, helping the economy.

–The 90s was the decade of the computer. Nearly every business went digital, exponentially increasing productivity and profits, enabling companies to hire and expand. Businesses weren’t the only ones buying from Bill Gates–schools, universities, charities, and households around the world bought American-made computers, pumping more dollars into the economy.

–The downturn that supposedly began during W’s 1st term actually had been declining since the previous summer. In fact, Bush (and others) saw it then, but when he warned us about it, he was accused of trying to “talk down” the economy. This downturn was accelerated by the fear, destruction, and insecurity brought on by the 9/11 attacks (Why did you slash the military and intelligence budgets, Mr. Clinton? Why did you refuse–twice!–when the Sudanese offered Osama to you on a silver platter?).

So we see that Clinton cannot take credit for the 90′s economic good times. The U.S.A. is, and has been for many decades, one of the most fiscally conservative countries on Earth. Conservative economic policy defined is basically lower taxes and fewer burdensome regulations on businesses. Other nations have more natural resources than we do, but we historically have prospered more because of our Judeo-Christian morality (which is getting weaker all the time) and economic conservatism (also declining).